Computer Scientists As Choice Architects

Name Institutional Affiliation Course Title Instructor Date Default Options: Computer Scientists as Choice Architects Breaking the Route of Minimum Resistance For reasons of distraction and laziness, many computer users will want to take whichever option that takes them the least effort or what Thaler, Sunstein and Balz call ‘least resistance.’ These forces have an impression that if there is a choice to be made, then it must be a default option that requires users to do nothing. Psychologists observe that there is often a large number of people who will end up with the default option, whether it is pleasant to them or not. People do not make their decisions in a vacuum, but in an environment with an array or both noticeable and unnoticed features that influence their choices. Computer scientists can act as choice architects to nudge end users to make constructive choices by applying the principle of libertarian paternalism without necessarily forcing consequences upon any user. Software engineers act as choice ar...